Mayor James Michael Curley barely survives a recall election.

Voters favor Curley’s recall by a margin of 47,000 to 35,000, but he remains in office because the number represents only 42% of registered voters rather than the required 50%. The recall motion had been promoted by Boston’s business community, upset by Curley’s questionable political and financial practices, particularly the construction of his lavish new home. According to Gerard O’Neill, Curley subsequently implements “The forty-second cousin rule,” and attempts to remove from the payroll every city employee who voted for the recall and every one of their family members down to their forty-second cousin.